


For Destruction, Ice

by laikaspeaks



Category: Pacific Rim (2013), RWBY
Genre: Autism Spectrum, Crossover, Drift Bond, Drift Side Effects, F/F, F/M, Kaiju, Mind Meld, PTSD, Pacific Rim - Freeform, Polyamory, The Drift (Pacific Rim), eventual pollination, mentions of abuse, pacific grimm, sensory processing disorder, there is no incest in this fic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-02-27
Updated: 2016-10-09
Packaged: 2018-05-23 12:21:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,284
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6116293
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/laikaspeaks/pseuds/laikaspeaks
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When a massive Grimm emerged from the depths of Remnant's seas many lives were lost, not the least the hundreds of hunters that fell to kill the beast. And it was not the last. Thus the founding of the Jaeger Initiative, the kingdoms banding together to forge great machines of metal and Dust, controlled by the best hunters humanity had to offer. </p><p>Weiss was born too late to see the glory days. She has to work with what's left and what's left is Signal Station, a handful of desperate deserters and the rustbucket mechs they pilot. She left home running - from the weight of her name, her father's disdain. Time will only tell what she's running towards. Perhaps she'll find it in the drift.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. just under our skin

Ruby ducked behind her Jaeger’s foot, pressing a hand hard against the metal to ground herself. _She’s early!_

Weiss stood apart from the pit’s bustle of activity with arms crossed and hip cocked, a shock of white against the grey-on-black, echoing space of the hangar. That sleek pencil skirt and suit jacket repelled even the idea of dirt. The Schnee logo was worked in ice blue thread on her back. A silk scarf was the only other splash of color, like a slash of scarlet around her throat.

A hand came up to smooth the elegant knot at the base of her neck, a hint of frustration marring the sharp features that until this moment Ruby thought she would only see splashed - immaculate and expressionless - across billboards in Vale. Her pale blue eyes raked across the hangar with all the intensity of a white-plumed bird of prey.

In her mind’s eye Ruby saw the stark figure stalking down into the maintenance pit at the Jaeger’s feet, finding her coated in filth from head to toe. The flutter of nervousness in her chest bloomed into something bordering on panic. This could not be the way they met. Even with her reputation for lacking social graces, the thought was embarrassing.

“Soooo, this is the runaway. Welcome to the rebellion, newbie.”

Ruby peeked over Crescent’s foot to catch sight of Yang slinging one long arm over Weiss’ shoulder, sly grin unfaltering under a truly impressive glare. Weiss lifted her chin and drew herself up like a bowstring drawn taut, but her head was still only just even with the blonde’s shoulder. Ruby caught the way her eyes dropped and suddenly looked anywhere but at Yang, the flush on her cheeks obvious even at this distance.

Beacon didn’t make pretensions to being a military organization, and pilots rarely wore regulation uniform. So Yang’s “natural gifts” were on prominent display, framed by the custom bomber jacket that ate up a couple of her paychecks. Or as she called it, the “bombshell jacket”.

Yang’s eyes flicked to her hiding place, a slow grin spreading across her features.    

“How about you lemme show you to the mess hall? It’s too damn cold out here with you dressed like that, an’ you don’t want to catch cold waiting for your new partner, do you?”

The fact that Yang was in shorts and a tank top did not escape Weiss – her eyes narrowed, stance shifted – but the heiress merely nodded sharply, shrugging Yang off with a smooth motion. Ruby let out a breath she hadn’t realized she was holding and slumped against Crescent, the metal warm and comforting under her cheek. Dodged a bullet for now.

She rolled over and gazed up at the metallic titan. Ruby knew these sleek lines by heart, but tracing them with her eyes made her muscles relax.

“What do you think, sweetheart?”

Some would say it was just her imagination, but she detected a change in Crescent’s low hum.  

————————-

“So we were right there in the middle of this huge hurricane, and this ursa-class kaiju – Typhoon, I think – starts going for the harbor and…”

 Weiss picked her food, lip curling at the thought of putting the limp vegetables and deep-fried meat anywhere near her mouth.

Yang assured Weiss that Ruby would be here soon, but the tables were steadily emptying and still the girl hadn’t managed to show her face. She snorted inwardly. Honestly she couldn’t say she was surprised. What could she possibly want with a child? Staggering kill-count or not, this lack of professionalism didn’t bode well.

Perhaps she was expecting too much. This was a den of criminals, terrorists, murderers and thieves, after all.

When her father announced the Schnee Wall project, deserters flooded to the abandoned hunter school “Signal” on Patch Island just off the coast of Vale. Which was just as well, since the military-run Jaeger project was shut down not long after the first dust-field generators were installed. The city lights flickered out one by one, until entire city blocks were devoid of life.  

She stabbed at the ‘meat’ on her plate more violently than necessary, earning a glare from Yang’s partner. Weiss glared right back until the silent, dark-haired girl rolled her eyes and returned to her book.

Compatible auras were only one aspect of a successful drift, but Weiss couldn’t imagine what else met the criteria, especially looking at these two. While Yang was gesticulating wildly and laughing, the brunette merely nodded, a thin smile tilting her lips. Yang was all raw power Blake had sinewy grace. While Yang’s clothing was simple and direct, Blake’s were eye-catching in a more subtle way: A white collared shirt under a curve-hugging black vest, black slacks, tasteful black heels, and an unexpectedly girlish black bow.

The heiress pressed a palm to her forehead to block out… everything. For the past two days every fiber of her being crackled with tension. Literally everything was an irritant, the slightest disturbance enough to make her want to scream.

Suddenly there was a presence at Weiss’ side, a cloud of rose petals drifting around her shoulders and dissolving into the air like a mirage. The girl plopped at her side with enough force make the bench scrape forward a few inches, and close enough to brush against Weiss’ shoulder if she breathed in deeply.

 —————

 _“Ruby_ Rose _,” she raised a brow over the yellowed file, “As in – that’s_ impossible. _S_ _he didn’t have any children.”_

_"It’s true you shouldn’t believe everything you read, but do you think I would lie to you, Miss Schnee?” Ozpin took a sip of his coffee, peering over his glasses with that infuriating smirk playing on his lips._

_"I must say I’m surprised the public didn’t make the connection; it was quite the scandal when she died. Though Summer was always… particular about her private life. I suppose more people knew the Jaeger than the pilot. Argent Herald does have a ring to it.”_

——————-

There were hours upon hours of new reels of the sisters dating from the day they were inducted five years ago - Ruby at a mere sixteen years old.

Film didn’t do her justice.

Her eyes were softer in person, more dove grey than the harsh silver of the newsreels. The lack of a uniform only softened her edges; a black skirt edged in red lace peeked from under a red hooded cloak worn to softness. Her bare feet made barely a whisper on the stone floor, showing her sister’s flagrant disrespect for the winter chill. There was a smudge of oil across her nose.

“H-hey, Weiss.” Ruby shifted under her scrutiny and rubbed at the back of her neck with a sheepish smile. “I’m sorry for not meeting you sooner, nobody told me you were coming today, and Crescent needed some work done and there was nobody else who could do it, she doesn’t like anyone except me and Yang handling her, you know, and –“

Too much movement, too much noise, the pitch of her voice grating over Weiss’ eardrums like metal against bone. Weiss waved away an errant rose petal and snapped. “Do you have no control over your aura at all?”

The babbling was blissfully cut off, but Ruby scrunched down like a kicked dog and Weiss felt every breath of extra distance between them like an accusation. Her chest panged. _Damn it._ She knew better than this, they could have waited until tomorrow morning, when her nerves weren’t already scraped raw.

Weiss huffed and rested her chin on a fist, averting her gaze from Ruby’s attempt to hide her hurt, Yang’s (literally) smoldering glare, and Blake’s dawning amusement. Her face felt hot and her gut twisted.

“My apologies, Miss Rose, my travels have been… trying. I’m sure you can imagine.”

She chanced a furtive glance to gauge how her apology was received, and was surprised to discover the girl’s expression lifted. Like a lightswitch being flipped. She wasn’t sure if she was relieved or disturbed. Ruby was already waving comically as if to shoo away the notion that she would hold a grudge.

“Ah – no, no, don’t worry about it. We all have our off days. _Don’t we,_ _Yang?”_

 Yang’s expression was still creased with pure contempt, her fists clenching and unclenching on the edge of the table, the plastic warping just slightly under her fingers. She snorted a little gout of smoke and sparks before subsiding, and Weiss was thoroughly reminded that Yang had an arrest sheet as long as her arm.

Evidently Ruby’s train of thought was similar.

“If you’re almost done, I can show you our room. I bet you’re really tired.”

_Our room?_

 ——-

 The walk was long, silent, and exceedingly awkward.

 "Well, this used to be a school you know? There aren’t enough dorms for all the staff to have their own rooms, and Professor Ozpin doesn’t want to show favoritism.”

Ruby opened the door and ushered Weiss into a room that was scarcely big enough for the bunk beds set against each wall. To her right every inch of cinderblock was plastered with posters ranging from rock bands to sporty cars, while to the left there were bulletin and white boards covered with diagrams and unintelligible scrawl. In either case only slivers of white peeked between.

The floor wasn’t much better. Books overran their shelves and spilled into the floor, surrounding the two bottom bunks in tottering piles that could only be navigated by little footpaths. At least they had the good grace to leave the area nearest to the door clear. The alcove at the end of Blake’s bunk had been converted to a little reading area, separated from the rest of the room by a strategically placed bookshelf – softened with a shaggy rug that had seen better days, a reading lamp, and the biggest beanbag Weiss had ever seen.

Ruby cleared her throat. “Uh… the bathroom’s to your left. You probably want to freshen up, right?”

The girl was nearly a full foot taller than Weiss, but she had a way of ducking her head that made it almost impossible to avoid her eyes. Weiss looked away, focusing instead on the white-tiled bathroom, and most importantly, the shower.  

“Thank you. You’re right.” She answered finally.

—————

When Weiss finally got out of the shower her roomates were already in the room, and she was feeling somewhat more human.  Like the others, she had left her hair down and changed into her nightgown.

Yang was sprawled on beanbag, with Blake facing away but deigning to press her back to the blonde’s side and prop her head on one broad shoulder. Blake’s attention was on the book propped on her drawn-up knees, but her aura of tolerating the closeness was marred by the arm wound around her waist. Her free hand was toying with Yang’s fingers.

On the other hand Ruby was flopped belly first on the rug, tucked underneath Yang’s knees like a leg rest. She had at least three tablets spread in front of her, and was the very picture of a kid with a bunch of coloring books. Except that two had blueprints scrolling across the screens and the other was being used to scribble notes.

It was so domestic she could puke, if ladies did such things.

“The bunk on the bottom left is yours.” Ruby said, glancing up from her work to flash Weiss a tentative smile.

Someone had made the bed for her. Weiss almost said something, but instead she closed her mouth and swallowed down the lump in her throat. She slipped into the bunk and pulled the curtain closed, throwing her little space into almost-darkness.

From here Weiss could hear Yang humming along with the music from her earbuds, the occasional indistinct lyric wound into the mix. Her voice did have a pleasant tone, though

Weiss suspected her range needed… a lot of work…

The low voices lulled her to sleep.


	2. tell me how to run like you

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, finally finished the second chapter! It hasn't been through a beta yet, so please let me know if you find any errors.

When Weiss apologized to Ruby and her friends again that morning in the cafeteria the other girl waved it off. “N-no no, it's fine, I know that it's a hard trip to Patch. Especially these days! It's no problem, no problem at all. I - uh, just remembered a thing _. I'llberightback_.” Then she was gone in a blur of rose petals, leaving Weiss confused and blushing under Yang’s sharp look and Blake’s impassive stare.

Somewhere between another lackluster meal  and dropping off her tray, Weiss decided to explore the base. She may as well familiarize herself with the place she now called home. The low-slung halls and rooms of the general living area, with their cheap bricks and wide glass windows, could only have been the original school. Here and there Weiss could make out holes where lockers and bulletin boards were once anchored to the wall. This eventually gave way to the cool, dark metal and bare stone of newer construction, where a set of steep steps descended into the cliff face. Another, far more alluring set branched off at the same landing and led upward. Fresh, damp air fluttered against her cheeks. Weiss took the steps two at a time, uncharacteristically eager to be under open sky. Maybe it was the claustrophobic nature of the base. She burst into the open air and took a deep breath, welcoming the hint of salt in the sea breeze.

She got a fleeting impression of a cracked helicopter pad, weeds poking up between small fissures in the old concrete. Then there was a sharp crack, belated pain radiating across the back of her skull.  The world wobbled like jelly as pain echoed through her skull.

“Oh - oh my, I’m so sorry. Are you alright?”

Weiss cracked her eyes open at a hand planting on her shoulder, and got a close-up of bright green eyes. The pleasant scent of spice engulfed her along with the distinctly _unpleasant_ feeling of a sweaty palm against her cheek.

The woman wrenched her spear out of the wall and the shoulder of Weiss’ dress and when she dropped a few feet she landed heavily in a pair of corded arms. The close call that would have scared the breath out of Weiss if it weren’t already taken away.  She was set gently on her feet, a pair of unfamiliar hands flying over her hair and shoulders as if to right the wrong through fussing alone. The other woman was a good head - or two, Weiss admitted grudgingly - taller, with jade eyes and a sleek ponytail almost too red to be real. Coppery and gleaming with sweat with the glare of the sun at her back, she might be one of the famous bronzes of her homeland, breathed to life purely to _kick ass_. Even in a nondescript black tank top and shorts, the woman was unmistakable.  

“Pyrrha Nikos,” Weiss breathed, biting the inside of her cheek at the thought of the posters plastered on the walls of her childhood room, “I-it’s a pleasure, though I wish we had met under better circumstances.”

Pyrrha’s smile was no less dazzling for being almost demure. It was an odd contrast to the ramrod straight back and proud lift of her chin. “It’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance as well, Weiss. Professor Ozpin speaks most highly of you.”

Weiss drew herself up to her full height, cursing the heat rushing to her cheeks. “I can’t say any of it was exaggerated, Miss Nikos, but it means a great deal coming from you.”

Whatever Pyrrha was about to say was interrupted by a loud whoop - the redhead spun in place and braced herself, one hand reaching to the side as if snatching something from the empty air. Weiss barely registered a red blur whirring past her face before Pyrrha whipped her weapon up to intercept the blow. Pyrrha’s stance didn’t even falter as she allowed a massive hammer to skitter down the tilted length of her spear.

A plump redhead leapt out of reach just as Pyrrha whipped the spear out where her ankles were moments before, cherubic features pulling into a pout. Somehow she had managed to find a tank top in violent pink, with a clumsily stenciled green lotus emblem right over her heart. “Awww, I almost had you that time.”

Pyrrha twirled her spear casually in one hand, almost cocky, though there was no such expression on those chiseled features. Only friendly patience. “You should know better than to try and sneak up on me by now, Nora.”

The girl with the hammer was already laughing. “But that’s not as fun!”

They seemed to blur before Weiss’ eyes, a flurry of acrobatic leaps and near-blows almost too fast for her eye to follow.

“They’re so energetic.” Weiss startled at the presence at her side. How long had _he_ been standing there?

His eyes were still trained on the fight, not seeming to register her gaze. He reminded her vaguely of Blake - utterly self-contained, as if attempting to take up as little space as possible. Not that he took up much in the first place. He was a good head taller than her, but the tailored green jacket that he wore emphasized a slim frame and narrow shoulders more than concealed them. “Do you always sneak up on new recruits?”

“I’m Lie Ren,” he offered, lips curling into a smile that was neither a yes or a no. He didn’t speak further, and Weiss found herself relaxing into the silence more than she expected. “I was here first, you know.”

She - really had no response to that.

The battle finally ended with Nora on her back, a bright spear pressed to her throat.

“I yield!” she ried, bounding to her feet and nearly knocking Pyrrha off of hers, “Good job Pyrrha! High five!”

That was the most awkward ‘high five’ Weiss had ever witnessed, and she used to watch Winter trying to make nice with some of her father’s more unsavory clients. She wasn’t given an opportunity to observe further as Pyrrha glanced in her direction, and Weiss would rather throw herself off the nearby cliff than be caught staring.

As if feeling Weiss’ gaze, Pyrrha smirked in her direction, cocking her hip in a way that made Weiss’ mouth dry. The redhead’s voice was deceptively light: “Want a go, Weiss?”

“I - I’ll go get my boots.”

She had never run so fast in her life. If she subtly cast a glyph or two to speed her passage down the longer, emptier halls, she would take it to her grave.

When she came back the first thing she saw was Ruby clinging to Pyrrha’s back, laughing as the taller woman effortlessly dodged both Lie Ren and Nora’s attacks. The sight made her envious heart clench painfully. Ruby chose that moment to turn and grin, and Weiss wanted to melt away in that moment, for fear the other girl would see her heart’s expression on her face.

Instead Ruby bounded over, nearly reaching out to grasp her hand before visibly catching herself. “Weiss, we’ve been waiting for you! Wanna go two on two?”

“Hell _yeah_.” Nora interjected herself between them, flexing her arms eagerly as a bodybuilder. “Let me have a shot - Ren, you’ll be referee right? Puh-leeeeeze?”

Weiss didn’t know the quiet boy had dimples, but she got a good look at them while he deliberated for a long, long moment, his eyes gleaming with playfulness. He almost dared them to break the silence while Nora bounced and wiggled like an overeager puppy. And then he finally answered: “Okay.”

Pyrrha and Nora retreated to the far end of what Weiss now realized was a roughly painted ring, the white paint weathered away by salt and sun. She felt Ruby at her side and swallowed hard - the girl was by far the most difficult to deal with. Ruby Rose was the expectations sitting on her chest like a two ton weight.

Ruby offered her the hilt of a blade, smile shrinking by a few teeth.

“It’s no Myrtenaster,” she said softly, managing to keep her eyes steady when every other part of her was inclined to twitch and fidget, “but the balance is as close as I could find.”

Weiss gave the blade a few experimental flicks, and was surprised to find it was indeed close to her own lost weapon. Abandoning her Dust rapier had been the hardest part of leaving, but she could hardly sneak into the armory unobserved.

Weiss smiled through the questions - there was no way the other girl should have known how Myrtenaster felt in her hands. Yet the blade was as close to its equal as she could get without building it with her own hands. “...Thank you, Ruby.”

The girl smiled like a wolf. “No problem, Weiss.”

Then she was gone in a blur and a cloud of rose petals, a scythe seemingly unfolding from the air itself, and with a quick swipe she sent Pyrrha’s unexpectedly thrown spear skittering. If Nora and Pyrrha had been fast, it was something else entirely when Ruby clashed with Pyrrha. At first glance it seemed like the redhead was barely blocking the flurry of blows, but Weiss could just make out the way she lured the scythe-user into her sphere time and again. Nora, on the other hand, had all the subtlety of the hammer she wielded. The hammer was slow, almost brutish. It was no match for her mobility or Ruby's, and both of them got several touches in as the battle wore on.

The speed and chaos would have made Weiss quail if she were made of lesser stuff. Instead she grinned, hand tightening around her borrowed blade. She spun the weapon’s cylinders with her thumb, and selected the right Dust in the same motion as she bowed in a smooth movement to open a glyph at her feet. She could feel herself grinning, heart pounding in her chest, the tension that lived in her muscles humming like a drawn bowstring.

She felt alive.

\----

Weiss laughed as she collapsed back on the makeshift cinderblock-and-wood bench, brushing loose hair back from her face. Her muscles burned pleasantly, even with her aura dancing along her arms and legs in silvery sparks. They could only soothe the ache when she was this tired.

“That was quite a match, Pyrrha.” She felt herself beaming, but couldn’t quite suppress it despite the certainty she looked like a fool. “I hope we can have another soon.”

Pyrrha grinned back, spear propped lazily on her shoulder. For the first time Weiss noticed what looked like a scar or pale tattoo winding from the wrist to disappear under the neck of her tank top, standing out in sharp relief against her skin. They almost looked like circuits in their geometric perfection. “I’m looking forward to it.”

Weiss tried to shrug and wasn't sure if she actually managed to be nonchalant.

The other woman’s head dipped curiously, loose hair falling in curtains around her broad shoulders. “Are you sure you won't join my team for dinner, Weiss? We would love to have you.”

“No, please go ahead, Pyrrha. I’ll meet you at the mess hall shortly.”

Weiss sighed. The sticky, clammy presence of her own sweat was irritating but nothing she couldn't ignore if it meant drawing out this evening. It was the first time she felt normal in a long while.

On impulse she peered out of the corner of her eye, catching the glimmering film on the low-hanging clouds of Vale, soaring up and up into the hazy sky. When she looked directly at it the barrier vanished, but when she turned her head once more it reappeared. Her father’s wall. From here it was impossible to see where it touched the earth, but Weiss could draw the outline on a map in her sleep. Weiss knew the names of the slums and shipyards that it left unprotected, she knew which rich neighborhoods and powerful organisations were circled by that gleaming bubble. Ignorance, greed, cruelty. Her father’s prejudice against the faunus had been like fact until she saw that map spread out with the truth in black and white.

“Looking at your father’s handiwork?” Weiss started, glancing over her shoulder to see Yang leaning against the doorframe, arms crossed under her ample chest.

“It looks much larger from the outside.”

“Not large enough.” Yang’s eyes were still on that shimmering horizon, with the way her pale eyes caught the evening sky they seemed almost red. “...Why did you come here?”

“Pardon?”

Yang shifted in place, straightening to her full intimidating height. “I said why did you come here? What do you think you’re going to get out of this?”

“I -”

“What do you _want_ , Schnee?”

Weiss breathed in deeply, biting back the sharp retort on the tip of her tongue. She could see that Yang was waiting for it - that much was written in every tense line of her body. In another time, Weiss might have indulged whatever this was, but now…

“My father built that wall knowing that people outside of it would die, and if I can’t change his mind I’m going to do my best to set it right.” The wrongs she was party to, though it stung to admit it. She had stopped being a little girl a long time ago, but she had gone along with everything rather than risk his wrath.

Pale eyes didn’t waver, though she wasn’t sure what Yang was looking for in her expression. “It’s as simple as that?”

“As simple as that.”

Yang looked out over the bay and the city, the lights flickering to life in the distant windows, and tugged at the lapels of her leather jacket. They were silent for a long moment. Weiss didn’t think they had as many birds or cicadas in the city, and somehow it made the silence softer. Yang’s gaze was a million miles away, and Weiss found herself watching her new teammate rather than the setting sun.

“You better not hurt her.”

“What?” Weiss felt like she had missed something, a panicked flutter awakening in her chest. “What on earth do you _mean_?”

Honestly she was getting tired of these accusations. She wasn’t the villain here! Weiss opened her mouth to say as much when she was cut off by that stern gaze.

“Ozpin says you may be drift compatible with my sister. I’m not so sure.” She rolled her shoulders, boots scuffing against the cracked concrete. Her prosthetic hand clenched so that the metallic joints creaked.“I don’t like the way you talked to her, and I sure as hell don’t like the way you’re acting like she’s some dumb kid.”

“She accepted my apology, I don’t see h -” _How it’s any business of yours._ Weiss bit that off so fast her teeth clicked. She remembered with abrupt clarity the other footage she’d watched over the years. Even on film she could see the bond between them ran deep. The way that they moved together as one even after the connection from the Drift should have faded.

“All I’m saying is you’d better fucking _be sure_ that you want this before you get in that cockpit. Ruby’s been hurt enough.” Yang stalked off with tension crackling over her powerful frame, and Weiss  was alone. In the cool blue light she could still just make out the wall her father built.

Weiss’ hand wandered to the hilt of the rapier at her hip. If things went the way everyone hoped, she wondered who the second pilot would be. Which of them would be the true pilot and which would supply their semblance - their aura, their soul - to the machine itself? Her stomach clenched and churned, and she buried her face in her hands, dragged in deep breath, then another. Closing her eyes like this brought no peace. She could almost feel the phantom pain of her aura worn thin again and again. Whichever it turned out to be, she wasn’t sure if she would ever be ready. Not for this.

 -----

Ozpin paused the film with a click of a button, pushing his glasses up his nose with one long, bony finger. “See?” The finger tapped against the monitor to point out the action caught in mid-motion. “Quite a marvel, the Schnee semblance.”

Weiss Schnee was in the midst of pulling a ghostly white blade out of mid-air, by all appearances a broadsword but for the fact she could wield it almost casually in one hand and the borrowed rapier in the other. Between the power of the blade and the speed of her glyphs, she was devestation on the battlefield. That mobility was a good match for their youngest huntress, even beyond their other considerations.

Glynda bent over his shoulder. He could picture those green eyes narrowing with sharp appraisal. It looked like disapproval to the uninitiated, but he found she looked deeply unimpressed in most instances. “I doubt that parlor trick is worth the operation itself. You know her father will be beating down our doors in a matter of days.”

“Many of our pilots are under our protection, you now this. I believe she will be effective enough for the risk.” He tapped away at the keyboard, navigating out of the archived film to the live recordings, flicking through the various streams until he found the girl that was causing so much conflict between him and Glynda. What he saw made him smile. Weiss was seated on Crescent’s massive foot with her legs folded primly under her, and at her side Ruby sat cross-legged, making wild, incomprehensible gestures at the blueprint spread between them.

Ozpin tapped his fingers against his cane, letting out a slow breath. It looked like Miss Schnee was going to be accepted by his temperamental team. It was going better than he had expected. “Our plans are unfolding as we hoped.”

Goodwitch hummed in response and pursed her lips, eyes narrowing behind her glasses. “I’m still not certain she’s capable, Ozpin. She’s completely untried.”

“She’s more experienced than any of the other candidates. Not many have already entered the drift when they come to us.” He took a sip of his coffee to gather his thoughts. Glynda would not be pleased about being kept in the dark, but he had wanted her opinion unclouded by outside factors.

Glynda’s sharp eyes narrowed in his direction, letting him bake under the force of her stare for a long moment before hissing: “Experienced? The girl is shattered. If you put her in a jaeger with Ruby it will be a _disaster._ ”

“I have no idea what you mean.”

" _Don’t you lie to me.”_ She turned her back to him, gaze resolutely focused out the narrow window. From his seat at his desk he could see a grey sliver of sea, a thin ray of light setting her eyes alight with green fire. The relationship had only ever been one of deep respect, but he could admire beauty when he saw it. “I could feel it. Her aura was broken the same as with Summer’s girls. There’s no guarantee that the same method will work twice.”

Ozpin started to answer, then closed his mouth when he thought better of it. He could remember clearly the weeks Yang refused to leave her bed, the months Ruby spent plastering the walls with a thousand iterations of the same battle. Pyrrha Nikos hollow-eyed and silent as the grave. It was his orders however well intentioned - however _correct_ \- that led to that. Ozpin would see them healed.

 Even he couldn’t say if it was for their sake or for the sake of the battle before them.


End file.
